"I'm not going away, or giving up. "
"Those are your decisions. " Ignoring the headache brewing, she gathered up the tea things. "I enjoy having you for a lover. I'll regret having to end that, but I will if you insist on pressing for a different dynamic in our relationship. I think I'll get that wine after all. "
She carried the dishes inside, rinsed them. The headache was going to plague her, so she took a tonic before selecting a bottle of wine, taking out the proper glasses.
She didn't allow herself to think. Couldn't allow herself to feel. Since there was no going back, no crisscrossing over paths that were already long overgrown, the only direction was forward. But when she stepped outside, he was gone.
Though her stomach fluttered once, she sat at the table in her midsummer garden and toasted her independence.
And the wine was bitter on her tongue.
He sent her flowers at the bookstore the next day. Simple and cheerful zinnias, which in the language of flowers meant he was thinking of her. She doubted he knew the charming meaning of a bouquet of zinnias, but puzzled over them nonetheless as she selected a suitable vase. It wasn't like him to send flowers, she mused. Even when they'd been madly in love, he'd rarely thought to make such romantic gestures.
The card was explanation enough, she supposed. It read:
I'm sorry.
Sam
When she found herself smiling over the flowers instead of getting on with her work, she carried the vase downstairs and set it on the table by the fireplace.
"Aren't those sweet and cheerful?" Gladys Macey slipped up beside her to coo over the bouquet.
"From your garden?"
"No, actually. They were a gift. "
"Nothing perks a woman up more than getting flowers. Unless it's getting something sparkly," Gladys added with a wink. She slid a discreet glance over to Mia's left hand. But not discreet enough.
"I've found that a woman who buys herself something sparkly ends up with something that suits her own taste. "
"Not the same, though. " Gladys gave Mia's arm a quick squeeze. "Carl bought me a pair of earrings on my last birthday. Ugly as homemade sin, no question about it. But I feel good every time I put them on. I was just on my way up to the cafe to see how our Nell's getting on. "
"She's getting on beautifully. When she tells you she thinks she's started to show, just go along with her. It makes her happy. "
"Will do. I just pre-ordered Caroline Trump's new book. We're all excited about her coming here. I've been delegated by the book club to ask if she would agree to doing a book discussion just before the official signing. "
"I'll see if I can set it up. "
"Just let us know. We're going to give her a real Three Sisters welcome. "
"I'm counting on it. "
Mia made the call to New York herself. Once the wheels were set in motion, she checked her book orders, called her distributor to nag about a delay in a selection of note cards, then picked up the newest batch of e-mail orders.
As Lulu was busy, Mia filled them herself, slipping in the notice that signed copies of Trump's book would be available. Then she carted them down to the post office.
She ran into Mac as she came out again. "Hello, handsome. "
"Just the woman I was looking for. "
Smiling, she slid her arm through his. "That's what they all say. Are you on your way to the cafe to meet Ripley for lunch?"
"I was on my way to the bookstore to talk to you. " He glanced down, noted that she was wearing heels.
"No point asking you to take a walk on the beach with me. "
"Shoes come off. "
"You'll ruin your stockings. "
"I'm not wearing any. "
"Oh. " He flushed a bit, delighting her. "Well, let's walk, then, if you've got a few minutes. "
"I always have a few minutes for attractive men. How's your book going?"
"Fits and starts. "
"When it's finished, I expect Cafe Book to host your first signing. "
"Nonfiction books with academic bents on paranormal science don't exactly draw in the crowds for book signings. "
"They will at Cafe Book," she retorted.
They crossed the street, winding through the pedestrian traffic. Families returning from the beach, their skin pink, their eyes blurry from the sunlight, trudged into town for lunch or a cold drink. Others, loaded with coolers, umbrellas, towels, sunscreen, walked toward the sand and surf. Mia slipped off her shoes. "By the time the solstice crowd thins out, the Fourth of July crowd will stream in. We're having a good summer on the Sisters. "
"Summers go fast. "
"You're thinking of September. I know you're concerned, but I have it under control. " When he didn't speak, she tipped down her sunglasses and peered over the tops. "You don't think so?"
He struggled with the guilt of keeping Lulu's incident from her, weighing it against her peace of mind. "I think you can handle just about anything that gets tossed at you. "
"But?"
"But. " He laid a hand over the one she'd curled around his arm. "You play by the rules. "
"Not honoring the rules is what put us here. "
"Agreed. I care about you, Mia. "
She leaned her head on his shoulder. Something about him made her want to cuddle. "I know you do. You added to my life when you came into it. What you and Ripley have together adds to it. "
"I like Sam. "
She retreated, lifting her head. "Why shouldn't you?"
"Look, I'm not prying. Okay," he corrected, "I'm prying, but only for practical and scientific purposes. "
"Bullshit," she said, laughing.
"All right, mostl
y for those purposes. If I don't know where the two of you stand, I can't weigh my theories and hypotheses. I can't calculate what we might need to do. "
"Then I'll tell you we're, for the most part, enjoying each other. Our relationship is primarily comfortable and largely superficial. As far as I'm concerned, it's going to stay that way. "
"Okay. "
"You don't approve. "
"It's not for me to approve. It's for you to choose. "
"Exactly. Love, consuming and obsessive, destroyed the last sister. She refused to live without it. I refuse to live with it. "
"If that was enough, it would be over. "
"It will be over," she promised him.
"Look, Mia, there was a time when I believed it could be that simple. "
"And now you don't?"
"Now I don't," he confirmed. "I was up at your place this morning. You said I could go up and take readings after the solstice. "
"And?"
"I went up, took Mulder with me so he could get some exercise. To keep it simple, I'll say I started getting snags in the readings right at the edge of your front lawn. Positive and negative spikes. Like a . . . "
He slammed the heels of his hands together to demonstrate. "One ramming against the other. I got similar readings around the verge, straight toward the cliffs on the other side of the lighthouse, and into the forest. "
"I haven't been lax in protection. "
"No, you haven't, and it's a damn good thing. We followed the readings away from the clearing, away from the heart. My sensors started going wild, and so did Mulder. He damn near snapped the leash. There's a path of negative energy. I could follow it, the way it circled around, like an animal might stalk prey. "
"I know it's there, Mac. I don't ignore it. "
"Mia, it's gaining strength. There were places along that path where everything was dead. Brush, trees, birds. The pup stopped straining at the leash and just curled up, crying. I had to carry him, and he didn't stop shaking until we'd come out again. We came out, following that path, at the north end of your cliffs. "
"Have Ripley do a cleansing spell on the puppy, and on you. If she doesn't remember the ritual - "
"Mia. " Mac grabbed her hand in a tight grip. "Don't you understand what I'm saying? It has you surrounded. "